*BOURNEMOUTH* - Lewis Tregonwell (1758-1832) & C.C. Creeke (1820-1886)

I found this statue, carved from stone, whilst walking through the drab town centre of Bournemouth. Its of Captain Lewis Tregonwell who is credited with founding the town in 1810, before which it was just a deserted section of coast, popular with smugglers.

There is detailed info about the statue here on the waymarking.com website, which mentions that it 'features the three local holders of the Victoria Cross'. Looking closely at the roll of parchment that Tregonwell is holding, there appears to be three names, which must be the medal winners in question. The sculptor was Jonathan Sells (who is local to the area and has his own website) and it was unveiled in the late 1990's.

When I saw the statue the inscription only showed the above, but on the waymarking site there is a picture showing much more information so it looks like the statue is being slowly buried (not very respectful to the town's founder!) - the full inscription is here.

Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that there is another chap mentioned on the plaque, namely a C.C. Creeke who was Bournemouth's first town surveyor. If you look round the other side of the statue, there is another figure moulded onto Tregonwell's back in a slightly weird sci-fi hybrid fashion. This definitely makes the entire work a bit bizarre to me and whatever the reasoning for constructing it in this fashion, it doesn't work.

You don't find many sculptures made from stone these days, so its a pity that this one just comes across as too cobbled together - Creeke didn't even arrive in Bournemouth until nearly 20 years after Tregonwell died, so having them joined so closely has no historical relevance either.

Overall: 4.5/10